Jaipur: Thanks to Assembly polls in Rajasthan, the work on the metro project in Jaipur has come to a virtual stand-still. It is now unlikely that the project would be completed even in the next six months. And by then, General Elections would be close at hand.

Metro is to run from Chandpol to Chaupad in the city and the state government was planning to inaugurate the first stretch of the line from Chandpol to Chhoti Chaupad in October this year. However, in the meantime, the Assembly elections were announced and the model code of conduct came into force. This has brought the work to a complete stand-still.

The work of electrification of the tracks from Chandpol to Chhoti Chaupad is still to be take up and tracks are to be laid from Chhoti Chaupad to Chaupad. Finishing work was underway at the Chhoti Chaupad railway station but that too has been stopped.

Lack of monitoring

Sources said that earlier, the progress of the project was being monitored by the chief secretary directly. Since the announcement of the polls, the chief secretary has been pre-occupied with election-related work. Moreover, all payments have been put on hold.

Meanwhile, the local traders are a harried lot. They say that work on the project has thrown the traffic in the city haywire, leading to traffic jams. People are not visiting the markets around the project sites.